The supreme eternal existence

Turīya is the supreme stage of consciousness, the original devotional consciousness of the soul. When the root cause of conditioning is removed, the soul finally regains his original spiritual form.

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The supreme eternal existence

Turīya is the supreme stage of consciousness, the original devotional consciousness of the soul. When the root cause of conditioning is removed, the soul finally regains his original spiritual form and senses and can join the Lord in His pastimes. In this stage, the soul becomes fully aware of the whole spiritual reality, different from the prājña stage where one remains unconscious.

Kārikā 2.4

nātmam na param caiva na satyam nāpi cānṛtam

prājñaḥ kiñcana samveti turyam tat tu sarvadṛk sadā

As Prājña, the Lord removes from the jīva the understanding of his own material form, as well as any other forms and objects. The jīva becomes unaware of both vice and virtue as well as everything else. As Turīya, however, the Lord reveals the supreme eternal existence to the pure soul.

Commentary: In this verse, the difference between the slumber of the prājña stage and the positive spiritual experience of the turīya stage is further explained. In the prājña stage, the Lord simply removes the material awareness of the soul at the end of each cycle of activity. The soul becomes then immersed in bliss, in contact with the Lord, but because in this level the affinity of the soul with matter remains, the original spiritual identity of the soul is not restored. In the turīya stage, however, the pure soul regains his spiritual form and senses and can join the Lord in His pastimes, becoming aware of the whole spiritual reality.

Kārikā 2.5

dvaitasyāgrahaṇam tulyam ubhayoḥ prājña-turyayoḥ

bīja-nidrāyutaḥ prājñaḥ sā tu turye na vidyate

Souls in both the prājña and turīya stages are equal in the sense of becoming free from material duality, which is based on the false notion of being independent from the Lord. The difference is that souls in deep sleep remain bound by the original cause of ignorance, while souls who reach turīya become completely free.

Commentary: Liberation has two stages, one negative and one positive. In other words, the first stage is based on abandoning something, and the second is reviving or obtaining something.

The first stage is to become free from material duality, rising above the influence of the three modes. The second is to fully reconnect ourselves with our original spiritual nature as eternal servants of the Lord. These two stages of liberation are well explained in the Gītā:

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā, na śocati na kānkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu, mad-bhaktim labhate parām

"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me."

After becoming fixed in the stage of liberation, one has still a long way to go until reaching the ultimate goal. This is also confirmed in the famous ātmārāmāś verse:

ātmārāmāś ca munayo, nirgranthā apy urukrame

kurvanty ahaitukīm bhaktim, ittham-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ

"All different varieties of ātmārāmas [those who take pleasure in the ātmā, or spirit self], especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls."

The reason even liberated souls desire to render devotional service to the Lord is because this platform of pure devotional service is higher than liberation. This ultimate stage of transcendental realization, turīya, is reached when we become completely free from false ego. As Prabhupada explains in his purport to SB 3.27.14: "The living entity who has become satya-dṛk, who realizes his position in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may remain apparently merged in the five elements of matter, the five material sense objects, the ten senses and the mind and intelligence, but still he is considered to be awake and to be freed from the reaction of false ego."

As long as one is not prepared to accept his original position, any other identity one may accept will be still under the concept of false ego. When one finally understands he is not the body, nor the mind or the intelligence, that he is not part of this material world, but part of the eternal spiritual nature, a last trap is set up by Maya: the idea of being one with the Lord. This allows the soul to accept the idea of becoming free from material contamination without accepting his original position of service to the Lord. As Prabhupada explains, this is also a form of false ego, making one believe to be something he is not. The result is that instead of re-attaining one's original position, the soul can go no further than the pradhāna or the impersonal brahmajyoti, a position from where one can fall back into the material energy.

As Prabhupada explains: "The Māyāvādī philosophers’ concept of becoming one with the Supreme Lord is another symptom of being lost in false ego. One may falsely claim that he is the Supreme Lord, but actually he is not. This is the last snare of māyā’s influence upon the living entity. To think oneself equal with the Supreme Lord or to think oneself to be the Supreme Lord Himself is also due to false ego."

This concept of being something apart from an eternal servant of the Lord is the mula-avidya, the root cause of ignorance that keeps us bound in the material world and can persist even in the stage of impersonal liberation, just as it persists in the prājña state.

Kārikā 2.6

svapna-nidrāyutau prāgyau prājñas tv asvapna-nidrayā

na nidrām naiva ca svapnam turīye paśyanti niṣkṛtāḥ

The first two stages are characterized by dream and sleep, while the stage of prājña is associated with sleep, without dreams. In the turīya stage, however, there are neither sleep nor dreams.

Commentary: Both the stages of viśva and taijasa are connected with material illusion. The waken stage is also a form of dream because we associate with temporary and illusory situations that have no relation to our real position as souls. Apart from the physical sleep, the taijasa stage is also characterized by sleep in the sense that the soul remains asleep for the spiritual reality. Turīya is the only stage one is fully awakened.

Kārikā 2.7

anyathā grahaṇam svapno nidrā tattvam ajānataḥ

viparyāse tayoḥ kṣīṇe turīyam padam aśnute

The word svapna or dream indicates the wrong conception of reality of the conditioned soul, and the word nidrā, or sleep means the wrong conception of truth regarding the attributes of the Lord. When these two wrong notions are removed, one reaches the goal of Turīya.

Commentary: The stages of viśva and taijasa are characterized by both svapna and nidrā (dream and sleep), while prājña by just nidrā (sleep). Now the exact meaning of the words is revealed.

Svapna doesn't mean just dreaming in the ordinary sense, but the whole concept of material illusion, where one identifies himself with the body and mind, creating false concepts such as being the processor of body, house, bank balance, etc. Dreams are just reflections of the same false concepts present in the waken state, and therefore svapna applies to both. Nidrā on the other hand means forgetfulness of one's original nature, which is present in all three states. This forgetfulness continues present even in the state of liberation, when one thinks of himself as one with God. Only when we fully awaken can we reach the ultimate state.

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